Amazon Will Shut Down Amazon Webstore

I just got back from IRCE Focus in Los Angeles and sources confirm that Amazon will shut down Amazon Webstores in 2016. Although this will not impact Amazon at all in regards to their marketplace, it signifies that Amazon finally gave up in competing with eCommerce platform players such as Shopify and Magento. Although Amazon itself has not commented on this topic, many sellers that currently use Amazon Webstore have received notifications from Amazon, letting them know of this change in hopes that they can find a new eCommerce platform. This of course is going to open up opportunity for other eCommerce platforms, but which platform will benefit the most is still to be determined.

This event reminds me a lot of last summer when eBay announced the shut down of Magento Go. Both Magento Go and Amazon Webstore targets small to medium size businesses that didn’t want the large investment into a self hosted eCommerce platform. Therefore, the most obvious eCommerce platforms that will absorb Amazon Webstore clients is probably Shopify and Bigcommerce. However, personally I think that any platform that already has a strong integration with the Amazon marketplaces is going to have a huge advantage. For example, Volusion comes out of the box with a feed that is built into Amazon. Also, Magento with M2E is a great solution since sellers will be able to manage their product inventory from one platform and still push product to Amazon, without having to pay for a 3rd party Channel Management System such as ChannelAdvisor, Mercent or Solidcommerce.

Although Amazon won’t admit the reason for this decision, I believe they finally realized they cannot compete in the eCommerce platform arena because today they account for less than 2% of all eCommerce websites. It also doesn’t help that their eCommerce platform was seriously lacking basic features like email marketing, loyalty programs and basic SEO control. The worst part of Amazon Webstore is the fact that Amazon analyzes your websites sales and if your products sell well, they will poach your manufacturer and buy your product directly to sell on their marketplace, which basically takes your business out of the equation.

Need help picking a new eCommerce platform?

If you need to move off of Amazon Webstore and you need help picking a new eCommerce platform, let me know and I can work with you to help you pick the right platform for your business.

Derrick started his career as an Online Marketing Manager for a small eCommerce company that bought and sold used cell phones.For the past 9 years Derrick has covered the full spectrum of eCommerce positions, ranging from Sr. eCommerce Project Manager to Director of eCommerce for multiple companies.

Derrick has developed an expertise in B2C and B2B eCommerce, especially for sellers that have a presence on multiple sales channels (e.g. web, ebay, amazon, wholesale, retail, etc.) He is currently helping Taco Bell to pioneer eCommerce for the QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) industry.Derrick started ECOMsultant as a way to help other businesses outside of his day job to achieve their online sales goals.

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Derrick at ECOMsultant was extremely knowledgeable, professional and attentive to our particular business needs. We needed to update our old inadequate website and payment methods. After conversations on the phone and meeting us in Irvine to better understand our business, Derrick gave us comprehensive options and recommendations for our new website. Based on the ease of use, scalability, functions and cost, Derrick felt the Shopify platform would suit us best. He designed a beautiful website and with many great features linking it dynamically with Stripe (payment gateway), our social media, maps, analytics, Mail Chimp, etc. His expertise made the Shopify setup very smooth. He also trained us on how to interact, analyze and manage the site ourselves saving future cost and time. We are very happy we used ECOMsultant and our new website looks great, is more functional, easy to navigate and the notifications and reporting are fantastic!

I just want to take a minute and say what a pleasure it was working with Derrick and building my
e-commerce site From scratch. I was super nervous about how it works since it was my first time going through the process of setting up a website. Luckily I found Derrick first and didn’t have to learn the hard way with someone else. He made it so easy for me and it quickly became a fun project for both of us to work on. I would give him ideas that I had but he knew exactly how it to make what I wanted and so much more. Not only did he build an entire website in a fraction of the time others were quoting but he taught me how to run it myself! I would have never guessed I could manage my own site but Derrick showed me how simple it really is. Can’t thank him enough and have already recommended his consulting business to my friends and family!
Sincerely happy,
Jeff Robertson
CEO Rhodium Global Design

As an online small business owner, I am forever grateful for Derrick Chan's expertise. He was able to get right to the point analyzing and presenting my business gaps. Then he easily walked me through how he could help me increase sales, simplify and beautify user experience, and truly customize my online business model -- all with my company's success top of mind. All of my clients tell me how gorgeous and professional my ecommerce website is compared to all of my other small business competitors. Honestly, I truly believe that they buy from me over my competition based on my website!! The coolest part of this entire process was that Derrick trained me on the full Shopify platform so that I now know how to manage my own site. Derrick is the real deal; worth every penny.